In needlework, selected yarns or threads are sewn onto a reticular base fabric to create the desired pattern. Historically, such base fabrics were canvases made of natural fibers and having a regular, open weave. To produce geometrical patterns or in copying a master pattern onto the canvas, the craftsman maintained uniformity in the design by counting the threads that had been woven to form the regular, reticulate canvas.
Reticulate needlework fabrics molded from polyethylene and other plastics have been developed to replace woven natural canvases for use as needlework base fabrics. Molded plastic fabrics may be made with precisely controlled dimensions, so that the molded plastic strands forming the reticular fabric are equally spaced and intersect at right angles. Consequently, patterns made on such fabrics by counting strands are regular and true.
Counting strands as part of the needlework process is tedious work and requires extreme attention in order to avoid error. Consequently, methods have been developed to help in the counting process or to avoid it altogether. Thus, the prior art is cognizant of various ways to transfer to a fabric designs to be created thereon by the needlework process. Examples include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,090,300; 4,154,181; and 4,239,011. In the patents cited, a removable paper or transparent pattern is held in place over the fabric to guide the craftsman as the desired design is produced. U.S. Pat. No. 3,779,190 teaches a method of "tramming" or serving secondary colored threads into conventional canvas as a first step in needlework, the threads serving as a guide to the craftsman. U.S. Pat. No. 1,185,245 teaches the printing of dots on fabric to guide a craftsman in smocking the fabric. Printing such patterns on fabrics made of polypropylene or other plastics has presented difficulties, as is noted in U.S. Pat. No. 4,154,181 at column 1, line 66, because ink does not adhere readily to such materials. And in any event, marking selected strands of the fabric by imparting a contrasting color to them requires employing an additional step in manufacturing and ensuring by some means that the contrasting color is not visible once the needlework is completed through or between the yarns or threads sewn onto the base fabric.